But then he realized it was a dog, he told InsideEdition.com, and the whimpering was coming from the vehicle parked next to him.

“I could hear it, but I couldn’t see it,” because of the SUV’s tinted windows, he said. “Eventually, I saw his little head pop up from a milk crate,” Poore said. The head belonged to a tiny puppy that began jumping up and down.

Poore called the Merriam Police Department, who sent officers to the suburban Kansas City home-improvement emporium.

Poore, who works at the Great Plains SPCA, videotaped the officers with his cell phone as they struggled to break into the locked car with a Slim Jim-like device.

After about 45 minutes, the dog’s owner showed up at the SUV and began yelling at police and bystanders who were watching the attempted rescue. “She was really angry,” Poore said.

The woman said she couldn’t find her keys and went back into the store, he said.

Not long afterward, the officers were able to pop the door locks and grab the puppy. An animal control officer was on hand, and wrapped the tiny pup in a wet towel and gave him water.

“I work for an animal shelter, so I get these distress calls on a daily basis,” Poore said. “It just absolutely blows me away that people keep leaving their dogs in the car.”

It was 96 degrees Monday as the puppy sat inside the SUV, where Poore estimates the temperature was at least 125 degrees. He said the pup appeared to be about two months old and weighed between three and four pounds.

Poore said he did not film the woman dealing with police because she was angry, and because bystanders were yelling things at her. “It got pretty ugly,” he said.

Luckily, the puppy was not harmed. The owner, who was not identified, was cited for unlawful treatment of an animal and must appear before a judge, who has the power to remove the animal from her, police said.

The puppy was returned to its female owner pending that hearing, authorities said.